Meanwhile in New York
by GinnytheQueen
Summary: Set months after COHF. What are Clary, Izzy, Alec, Jace and Magnus up to while Simon is in Idris, attending the Shadowhunter Academy? Read to find out. One chapter for each Tale from the Shadowhunter Academy.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER - I don't own anything, characters and places belong to the goddess that is Cassandra Clare!

* * *

"I got a call from Idris this morning," Maryse announced one evening at dinner. It was one of the rare times the Lightwood family – or what was left of it – dined together, as Magnus was on a business trip and Alec had resolved to stay at the Institute for a couple of days – and bring Chairman Meow with him; it had been months since a cat had last roamed the halls, since Jem had 'abducted' Church. Jace had convinced Clary to stay after training, so here they were, glad not to be eating leftovers or Taki's takeouts or something that Izzy had made, as Maryse had done all the cooking.

"Yeah?" Jace pretended to be interested in what his mother had to say. Honestly, he was more focused on food.

"I think you're going to like what I have to say. Especially you two, girls."

Clary and Izzy looked up, listening.

"Dean Penhallow is asking for lectures and practical lessons from trained young members of the Clave. I thought you might want to consider a trip to the Academy, Isabelle."

Maryse often scolded Isabelle for her behavior and particular taste in men, her choice in boyfriends had always been something they had fought over. But she had never made comments about Simon. She had kind of ignored the whole thing. Of course, she admired his courage and loyalty, but he used to be a vampire (and Maryse had been part of a pretty violent hate-group in her youth) and now he was a mundane. Training to be a Shadowhunter, but a mundane all the same.

"I wouldn't mind visiting Idris," Izzy admitted, her expression blank, hiding the emotions beneath. "I love Alicante this time of the year."

"You could have a lesson about less used weapons. I doubt they

teach how to fight with a whip," Alec suggested.

Jace smirked. "There are many ways to use a whip. You should show them, Izzy dear."

Clary kicked his leg under the table, hard. But Jace only kept smirking, even as Maryse told him off, "You still need to learn manners, Jace Lightwood."

"It's hopeless, mom," Alec joked, trying to shrug the awkwardness off. "There's no way to rectify his twisted, corrupt mind."

Needless to say, Jace just looked smug, like he always did, Isabelle was not baffled in the least, while Clary could feel her cheeks burning. Damned pale complexion.

"That's lovely, Maryse," she only said.

* * *

"I'm going," Izzy declared later that night while watching Jace and Alec have their round of chess. Clary had been hopelessly beaten by her, and the dark haired girl was waiting to see which of her brothers she'd have to beat next.

Despite the recent defeat, Clary smiled at her. She was rubbish at chess anyway. And Izzy liked to win. And so did Jace, because he got to show his abilities as a wicked strategist.

They had not mentioned Simon all night, but his name hung in the air, unspoken. Even Maryse must have known: her daughter wasn't the kind of good girl to go and lecture at the Academy just because an older Shadowhunter asked nicely.

It was Clary who brought him up.

"I wonder how Simon's doing," she said. "He'll be so delighted to see you."

Izzy nodded. "I'm calling Dean Penhallow first thing in the morning."

Alec's phone rang. He got up and paced a few steps to have some kind of privacy, even though he knew the others were still perfectly able to hear Magnus on the other side.

His boyfriend was complaining about some boring - but very rich - clients somewhere in Germany. Apparently, they had offered even a higher sum for a very easy but boringly long service, which would delay his permanence there.

"Tell the others I say hi," Magnus said. "Do you guys want me to take a quick visit to Idris to check on our friend at the Academy? I wouldn't mind seeing Cat. I'm pretty near anyway, just some miles from the wards…"

"Tell him there's no need to," Izzy said. "I will be going there shortly, and I would like to be the first to visit him, if Clary doesn't mind."

"Of course not," the redhead said. It was true. She missed Simon bad, but she knew where they stood. He would always be her best friend, no matter how little he remembered. Izzy, on the other hand, didn't know how to feel about this new Simon. They still needed to DTR, badly. So it was only fair that she showed up first.

* * *

Clary answered her phone. "Izzy?"

"Dean Penhallow said they would be ecstatic to have me!" she sounded so genuinely happy. "I'm going next week. I'm seeing Simon in a week!" Clary had never imagined Isabelle could be so openly excited about seeing Simon, but then again, it had been too many weeks since he'd left. And Izzy was finally starting to really open up to Clary.

"It's good to hear you so happy. Hug Simon for me, okay?"

"Sure. I suggested you could have a lecture too, at first Dean Penhallow sounded a bit uncertain because you're not fully trained yet, but I said you could introduce the Ascending students to runes and talk about your special abilities in that field… she said she'll think about it."

"Thank you, Iz. Are you working on your lecture?"

"Oh," she laughed, and Clary had no idea why, but she didn't ask. "You have no idea what I have in store."

* * *

 _One week and a trip to Idris later_

Isabelle burst in the kitchen of the Institute, which was four people more crowded than she liked.

"Oi, tiger!" Magnus called. Apparently, he was back from his boring business trip. He sat next to her brother, wearing one of those shiny outfits that were just so _Magnus._ But Izzy was not in the mood for some undoubtedly overwhelming conversation about his sense of fashion.

"Back so early?" she just said.

"I could ask _you_ the same thing," he retorted smirking.

"How did it go?" Clary asked.

Isabelle ignored them and her brothers' worried looks, and she went straight for the fridge. Empty. Of course. Where was her mother when she was starving?

"Did any of you ingrates leave me something to eat?"

"We didn't think your trip to Idris would be so… short," Clary admitted, cautious.

"We were counting on you at least staying the night," Jace chimed in, and she couldn't tell if he was being sincere or just malicious. In which case, Alec shot him an angry look.

"Well you were wrong," Izzy said.

"What happened?" Alec asked. Even Magnus stopped smiling and she could see concern written all over their faces.

"I shouldn't have gone."

"Stop being so dramatic, Iz. I'm sure Simon was happy to see you there," Jace said.

Isabelle had to take a deep breath. They kept on bombing her with questions. Why couldn't they just leave her alone? She placed one finger on her temple.

"Please stop talking," she snapped. "All of you."

"Would you just tell us what happened?" Alec asked for the nineteenth time in three minutes.

"What happened," Isabelle echoed bitterly.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Magnus asked.

"I never said such thing."

"Then –"

"What happened is that Simon broke up with me," she finally said.

There was a pause, while all of them processed the information given.

Only Jace was bold enough to say, "What?"

"He dumped me. Simon-scrawny-mundane-bastard-Lewis _dumped_ me!" she realized she'd been shouting.

Silence again. Upset Isabelle was dangerous. Upset _armed_ Isabelle was catastrophic, and it just happened that she always carried weapons. In fact, she was fidgeting with the deadly golden whip at her wrist. No one really knew how to handle the situation.

"Simon dumped me," she repeated for the third time, quietly now, as if she was just talking to herself.

The absurdity of the story made Clary remember how to speak: "This is so not like him."

"That guy sure is stupid," Jace said. "But not _that_ stupid."

Clary shot him an angry look.

Magnus chuckled nervously. "I'm sure you're under an impression that's totally mistaken…"

Alec sided with his boyfriend. "Yes, Iz, it was probably just an argument, Simon wouldn't give you up for anyth-"

"Does the phrase _I'm not your boyfriend, Isabelle_ not sound clear enough to you? Because that's what he told me."

"Explain," Alec said. "You were supposed to give a lecture."

"Well, I didn't. The only advice I gave the students was to stay away from Simon."

" _Isabelle_ ," Clary and Alec said at the same time, clearly disapproving.

"Okay, maybe I shouldn't have claimed he was mine before actually confronting him about it."

"Always DTR first," Magnus muttered.

"I thought he would appreciate the scene I pulled. I mean, who wouldn't? Then I turned and left the hall and he sprinted after me. I thought I was gonna receive this hot, passionate kiss–"

"Gross," Jace commented.

"And instead, I was broken up with. Oh, the irony."

"But why? He must have given you some kind of explaination, right? The Simon I know wouldn't–"

"That's the point," Izzy interrupted. "He's not that guy anymore. That's what he told me at least. That he's not the guy who loved me, because as hard as he tries, he just can't seem to remember enough. He thinks not remembering makes him a different person, one who doesn't deserve me. I can believe the first part, but the rest is just bullshit."

"Izzy –"

"He said he wanted to try. He asked me out. We went on three coffee dates. I got my hopes up."

"Iz, you have to understand he was very confused… one day he was a mundane living a perfectly ordinary life, the next we showed up and practically dropped a bomb on him."

"Yeah," Magnus said. " _Hey I know you don't remember any of us but that's okay, it's because my evil father erased us from your memory. You used to be a hero and we were all very close. Wanna join our gang and become one of us?_ It is confusing, Isabelle. It is only natural that he instantly got excited."

"Yes but –"

"It didn't help that among the few memories I was able to give him back there were several of him sharing intimate moments with this beautiful deadly warrior princess." He paused when Alec made a face at him. "Of course he wanted to know you better. To try to get things to the way they used to be. No one would miss a chance with you, Isabelle."

"He would, apparently," she replied stubbornly and bitterly.

"You've been awfully not yourself lately. Maybe he just doesn't like this version of you."

"Jace you are _so_ not helping."

"No, he's right. Maybe he realized he doesn't like me after all."

"Come on, Iz, you can't say that," said Alec.

Izzy shrugged. "Maybe he just met someone. Someone easier to be with."

"Always jumping to conclusion, aren't you?" Jace chimed in.

"Now that I think about it, he _has_ made friends at the Academy," Izzy said. "Lady friends."

"It was bound to happen, but it doesn't mean he's going to date any of them," Clary reassured her.

"Just occasional sex," Izzy retorted.

"As I said," Jace commented, "always jumping to conclusions."

"I'm not calling you a liar, Isabelle," Magnus started. "But I talked to Catarina two days ago and she told me Soames mostly stays with his roommate, a Lovelace or something."

"Can you stop pretending like you don't know his name?" Izzy said. "That stopped being funny sometime around November."

"But it always made him so frustrated!" Magnus said with a smirk.

"Can we stick to the point?" Clary said. "His roommate is a Lovelace? I remember the name, weren't they in the Enclave? Is Simon been placed with the Nephilim kids?"

"Yes, he was, but apparently he dropped the courses to join the mundanes," Magnus said. "And Lovelaces quit Shadowhunting centuries ago. Catarina said this guy will need Ascending, he probably doesn't have a drop of Nephilim blood in him."

"I'm telling you," Izzy continued. "A couple of girls actually _edged their desks away_ from Simon's while I was giving my little intimidating speech."

"Yes, Izzy, because they didn't want your lovely whip wrapped around their throats," Clary retorted.

Unexpectedly, Isabelle smiled at that. Not a full on smile, but the corner of her lips definitely perked up.

"Let's go out," Alec said after a moment of silence. "You need to eat something, the fridge is empty as usual and I'm not letting you anywhere near the flames."

"Magnus could conjure something out of thin air –" Izzy replied.

"I think you mean steal," Clary chimed in.

"How many times do I need to tell you, biscuit, I don't _steal_ anyth–"

"Yeah, sure, Magnus. Iz – go take a shower, change and meet us downstairs in twenty minutes."

"She'll never be ready in twenty minutes, Jace. I know this because even though I've never dated a girl in my life, I assure you that Magnus takes _hours_ to get ready," Alec said.

"This fabulousness," Magnus gestured to himself, "doesn't just happen magically, darling."

Izzy rolled her eyes and exited the kitchen. "Meet you in twenty minutes."

Once she was out of earshot, Jace turned to Clary. "Do you think she'll be okay?"

"She already coped with the thought of losing him forever once. But what I think hurts the most is not losing him. It's being let down by someone you trust. She trusted Simon to be different from all the boys she dated before. She opened up to him and he let her down. And I don't understand why he would ever do that."

"He'll regret treating Izzy like that," Alec said.

"Let's just give him time," Clary said and she meant it.

If nothing changed in a few weeks, she would personally pay him a visit.

* * *

 **Author's note:** hello everyone! That was chapter 1. Hope you liked it. I'm almost done with chapter 2, I think I'll post it in a few days but it depends mostly on your feedback, I need motivation, lol. Personally I think the next one is funnier and generally better. Also longer. Let me know what you think!

Love,

 _Ginny_theQueen_


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own anything, everything belongs to Cassie Clare. 

* * *

"Do you have any plans for Friday?" Alec asked as he dropped his phone and apartment keys on the counter.

"Hey big brother," Izzy said. "Do you still live here?"

"Only every other Wednesday," he joked.

"Magnus should stop monopolizing you, I feel like I never see you anymore."

He kissed her on the forehead. "I've just come from a Clave meeting," he said. "I'm surprised they even invite me at this point. Openly gay, engaged to a warlock? I'm, like, the embodiment of evil."

Isabelle did a double take. "What did you say?"

"I thought I had made it pretty clear that I'm not straight and I'm sure I mentioned Magnus and I are an item," Alec said casually.

"The _other_ part," Isabelle said impatiently. "The engaged part."

"Oh, that."

"Jace will be furious when he finds out. I am furious already. Why didn't you tell us?"

"It's nothing official yet. Magnus and I have simply talked about it and we concluded that it's a something that _will_ occur sooner or later," He said smiling. "That's it."

"Are you –"

"Hey, I didn't come to brag about my love life. I've come because the Conclave asked for you today."

"What do they need me to do this time?"

"Promise you won't get mad, okay? The Academy is having an exercise on a rogue vampire in New York and they need surveillance in case anything goes wrong."

"Let me guess, Simon will be there. No. Absolutely no. you had no right to accept on my behalf. Besides–"

"If you have plans, cancel them," her brother said in a definitive tone.

"Of course I have plans, it's Friday! I'm seeing a very hot dude named Rowan."

"What? You're not going."

"Believe me, you _will_ want me to go after you've seen his abs."

"Isabelle! Stop acting like a child, okay?"

"Are you angry with me because I'm sleeping with someone or because I don't want to do the Clave's bidding?"

"Both!" Alec said, his voice louder than he'd intended. "The Clave asked specifically for you. They trust your fighting abilities to protect the trainees."

"Why don't you go?" Isabelle inquired.

"There will be another Clave meeting, it's mandatory for all the Shadowhunters of age to attend. So they need an expert underage for the job."

"Send Jace," she offered.

"Jace would most likely end up killing the vampire himself just to impress the kids because he's a showoff."

Isabelle sighed.

"Izzy, you don't have to talk to Simon if you don't want to. All you are required to do is stand guard. You could even use an Invisibility rune and save all the trouble of being seen and having to talk."

"That's not the point. _I_ don't want to see _him_ ," she confessed.

"Come on, Izzy, the Clave –"

"Don't pretend this is about the Clave! He doesn't remember. He said he's a different person, we were not even officially dating and _he broke up with me,_ Alec. After all I'd done – And he wasn't gentle about it either."

"You wouldn't have wanted him to be," Alec said softly and she knew it was true. He knew her so well.

"Still, he did," she repeated stubbornly.

"Don't you see? This is why I'm doing this," he said, caressing her cheek.

"I thought you said it was the Clave," she muttered.

"You have no choice about going; what I'm saying is that you should approach Simon."

"Not a chance. Maybe I should just let the vampire kill him and get it over with."

"You know I don't believe for a second that you mean that, right? Stop acting like you're made of iron, Iz. It's okay not to be okay. I'm here."

He tried to embrace her, but she would have none of that. But Alec was stronger and wrapped his arms around her all the same.

"When Magnus broke up with me," he whispered in her ear. "You did everything in your power to give me my happiness back. I'm trying to do the same thing for you, Iz."

"But I do have my happiness," she said. "It's you being happy. And Jace being happy. And Mom not crying at night."

Alec smiled. He held her tighter for a few seconds, then let go. "And if things were different and you had Simon, everything would be perfect."

"I told you, I don't _want_ Simon. In fact, I'm thinking about Rowan's abs right now."

"Ugh. That's way more than I needed to know. Why do I have to act like I'm your father?"

"Because our father is a bastard who doesn't care about us and never taught me to be a good girl and behave?"

Alec sighed. "Look, Izzy. As much as I don't want you to suffer for Simon's absence, I most certainly don't want you throwing yourself at some 'hottie' you don't even know. Please just talk to Simon."

"Basically what you just said is you prefer to see me crying about Simon than have fun with someone else. Wow. Glad to know you're on my team, big brother."

"I just don't approve your idea of having fun."

"You don't approve anyone's idea of fun, Alec."

"Remember," he said before grabbing his keys again and heading out. "Friday."

She knew he was right. He was always right about everything, and she hated it. Ugh. Perfect abs would have to wait. 

* * *

_friday night_

"This is it. I'm done. You hear me? _Done_."

Clary usually only trained in the morning on Fridays. Which meant that she got to leave the Institute before noon and have lunch with Jocelyn and Luke. She and Jace usually went to Taki's for dinner, sometimes they were joined by Alec and Magnus. She hadn't seen Izzy all day, but she knew her friend would be back by the time Clary arrived home. She'd called her.

"Quit it. If you're not going to tell me what happened over the phone, I'm coming over," Clary said.

"Don't bother," Isabelle replied.

Clary hung up.

"Mom!" she called. "I'm going out!"

"What, again? Clary, it's pretty late…" 

* * *

She saw Jace before he saw her.

"Hey," Clary approached him from behind. He turned at the sound of her voice.

"What are you doing here?" Jace asked. "Couldn't stay away from me?"

"Nope." She gave him a quick kiss. "I'm here for Izzy, though."

"Really? You prefer my sister over me? She's hot, I'll give you that, but come on," he gestured to his body.

"Don't be silly. I think there's a crisis."

Jace's quizzical face told her he'd forgotten.

"Hello? She saw Simon today."

"Oh, right."

"Have you seen her?"

"Not since this afternoon," he admitted.

"That's because she's locked up in her room, probably crying her eyes out. I'd better go check on her."

"She acts so strong all the time, I tend to forget she can be so fragile."

"I know," she just said. His words struck her: strong and fragile. That combination suited Izzy perfectly.

"Last time she locked herself in her room, when Max died… she refused to let any of us in. Surprisingly, she let Simon in. He was still there when Alec and I went to check on her the morning after. I think that was the first time the two of them slept together. Izzy was almost okay after that. It was the moment I understood we needed Simon in our gang."

Clary stifled a giggle. "They didn't."

"What?"

"They never slept together. I mean, they slept together, but not slept _slept_ … oh, by the Angel."

Jace laughed. "You're saying they never had sex?"  
"Jace, _this is hardly the time_ … and it's none of your business!"

"Neither is yours, for that record, Ms Morgenstern."

She cringed at the sound of her last name. "But Simon is my best friend and best friends share these things with each other, _Mr Herondale_."

"So you told him about the cave sex?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I never got a chance to, between Sebastian and Asmodeus, and don't you think it would be weird to go to a person who barely remembers you and say _you know, my boyfriend and I first had sex in a cave in hell. But don't worry, we had condoms!_ Besides, I really don't want to remember our first time as 'cave sex', thank you very much."

Jace laughed. "Idiot," she said, but she knew that he knew she didn't mean it. "Anyway, I'm gonna go to Izzy now."

"Hey." He gently took her arm. "I doubt Izzy wants me around, but let me know if she needs anything…"

She nodded and kissed him again before heading to Izzy's room.

"Wait," Jace stopped her. "It's kind of late. Are you staying the night?"

She smiled. "I'll come to your room when Izzy kicks me out." 

Clary took a deep breath and knocked on Izzy's door.

"Go away," her routine answer came a moment later.

"Hey Izzy. It's me. I just want to talk to you."

"Isn't that what everybody wants? Well, everybody except your best friend."

Clary rolled her eyes. "Come on, Izzy. Please let me in."

The girl on the other side hesitated. "I don't want anyone to see me like this."

"I can close my eyes and I swear I won't be taking pictures, if that's what concerns you."

Clary was surprised to see the door open. She thought it would take a greater effort. She quickly got in and closed the door behind her, and caught a glimpse of Jace from the corner of her eyes, he must've been waiting for her to go in. She looked around: Izzy's room was a mess, but then again, it always was. Nearly tripping over a seraph blade, she made her way to the bed, avoiding the clothes and weapons that were scattered on the floor.

"That's what he would've said," Izzy whispered. Clary didn't need to look at her red puffy eyes to know that she'd been crying.

"What?"

"He would have joked. To be let in. Both into my room and in my heart."

"Wow, that was really deep, Miss Sentimentality-Gives-Me-Hives."

"I know, right? Who knew I could turn into a hopeless romantic?"

"Nobody was betting on it, I suppose."

"Okay, let's stop tiptoeing around it. I'll tell you what happened today."

"Only if you want to, Iz, I don't –"

"I was there merely as a precaution, I didn't have to intervene in the exercise. But I saw that vampire get close to Simon, and maybe he would've been able to defend himself, but I panicked and killed her."

"You saved his life."

"He didn't see it like that. He turned on me, all angry because I couldn't leave him alone. He said I don't get to decide for him."

Clary was a bit shocked. "He didn't even thank you?"

"I wish! He was angry I killed the vampire. Actually angry. And he said again that he's not _him_ and he doesn't belong to me, and that I'm not going to get what I want with him so I should stop trying. He made me sound like a crazy ex."

"I'm afraid to ask this, but what did you say to him then?"

"I told him, in an astoundingly cool and detached way, that he's wrong to think I care about what happens to him, I was just doing my job. And that I'm glad I don't know this new version of him. It was harsh and also not entirely true, but it shut him up."

"Impressive. Overall, aren't you proud you have faced him?"

"I guess I am. But don't tell Alec, I'm still holding a grudge at him for forcing me to talk to Simon in the first place."

Clary laughed, then silence reigned over them. Not an awkward silence, but the _I'm here for you but I don't want to keep talking if you don't want to_ kind. She didn't want to rub salt in Izzy's cut by speaking her mind. Her thoughts were definitely about Simon. How she missed her best friend. How she wished he hadn't screwed things up with Izzy. How she was more and more convinced every passing second that she needed to see him…

Isabelle spoke, interrupting her train of thoughts. "Do you know what he told me, at your mother's wedding?"

Clary knew. But she let Izzy tell her again.

"He said he remembered me. He said he dreamt about me and he asked me for another chance."

"And he threw that chance out of the window."

Izzy nodded. "It's just – I didn't expect that. I know to him I must sound like a crazy bitch who won't leave him alone, claiming that he has to be with me and all, but after everything we've been through… he should understand. I guess everything leads back to the main problem: he doesn't remember. And it's not his fault, so I have no right to be angry at him, but the thing is, I am."

She was crying again. Tears smeared mascara down her cheeks.

"Do you know what's the worst thing about this whole damn story?"

"That you had finally opened up your heart to someone who isn't your family and he let you down and I'm going to murder my best friend if he doesn't give me an explanation for acting this way?"

"No," Izzy said. "It's that I had a date tonight. Blond, green eyed, abs for days. And I'm here crying about Simon. The scrawny mundie who weaseled his way into my heart and toyed with it, whilst claiming that _I_ was the heartbreaker. But you know what?" Izzy got up. "Enough. Enough with the crying. Enough with the jealousy, enough with the heartache."

"You're incredible," Clary said.

"What, because I'm shagging someone else already?"

She shook her head. "You don't see it, but I admire you so much. Because… you get up every time you fall. Every time you lose someone who's important to you, it's like the pain only makes you stronger. It's a lesson that I still need to learn." 

* * *

_one Portal later_

"You must be Simon's roommate," Clary told the boy entering the room. He halted, looked at her and took a step back. All those runes and weapons that she carried probably scared him, she thought. Or maybe he simply wasn't used to finding random strangers sitting on his roommate's bed. Clary had had no trouble in understanding which bed was Simon's: he'd always had a weird way of folding his sheets…

"I'm George," he nodded. "And you must be Simon's kickass–"

"Best friend," Clary finished. "I'm Clary."

"Morgenstern. Fairchild. Yes, I know who you are. I admit I'm a bit scared to ask, but what are you doing here?"

She was a bit flattered that he knew her. Apparently, despite his last name, he was a mundane, brought up oblivious of the Shadow World.

"I just need to talk to him. Do you know if he'll be back any time soon?"

"Ms Loss wanted a word, but I think he should be on his way."

"I'm glad to hear Catarina's keeping an eye on him."

"Some people actually think they're having an affair. They spend an awful lot of time together, there's always some story that Ms Loss wants to tell him after class." George shifted his feet and changed tone. "Hey, I mean this in the nicest way possible, but last time someone from Simon's old life came to visit it didn't go well. And he's had a very bad day today, so please go easy on him, okay?"

Simon had always been good at making friends. And he excelled at forging good friendships with special people, Clary had to admit.

"Don't worry, I just need to see him," she said. "You must be a very good friend, George Lovelace. Keep looking out for Simon, will you?"

He nodded awkwardly, probably at loss for words.

"Now please go wait outside. We're gonna need privacy."

"Yes, ma'am. Let me just grab a book." 

* * *

_one Portal back to New York later_

Clary quietly stood outside Jace's door. She needed a minute.

Seeing Simon had hurt like hell. Seeing the confusion on his face whenever she mentioned something that he should remember but didn't, that hurt more than everything.

She understood Izzy and every last one of her feelings, but differently from Isabelle, Clary wanted Simon to be free to become whoever he wanted, no matter if he became someone who didn't want to have anything to do with her. She supposed that came with years and years of unconditional love and friendship, but still. She could see Simon had appreciated.

She had made her point about treating Izzy better and hoped he understood.

Clary had had to fight the urge to crush him into a bone-crushing hug the whole time, because despite her resolutions to be cool, she couldn't control her emotions that well. And when he'd asked about their friendship… she knew he had felt it too.

She knocked once and entered.

"Hey," she heard Jace's voice in the dark room. He was on his bed, but wide awake, golden eyes shining. "How's Izzy?"

"Better," Clary whispered and moved to sit on Jace's lap. His arms immediately settled around her, holding her to him.

"What took you so long?"

She giggled. "A trip to Idris."

"What?"

She put her index finger on his lips. "Lower your voice, everyone else is sleeping and technically I shouldn't even be here."

Jace kissed her finger. "Did you Portal in to the Academy?"

She smiled in the darkness. "You know me so well."

"You probably broke a few laws, you know. One can't simply Portal into Idris unannounced and walk into the Shadowhunter Academy just like that!"

"You're definitely having a bad influence on me, then," she said and caressed his face.

He chuckled, that deep low sound that made her insides melt. "I guess you're right. But you could have warned, I would like to visit… despite living in Idris for ten years, I've never seen the Academy."

"Believe me, you wouldn't want to see it, it's covered in slime."

"Gross. Still, I'm going there next."

"If you insist…" Clary smirked and moved closer so that their noses were touching. "Is there anything else your majesty desires?"

Jace grabbed her face. "Oh, definitely." 

* * *

**A/N:** here we are. First I would like to thank the awesome people who reviewed, so thanks again!

Hope you liked chapter 2, it's longer than the first, as promised.

If anyone would like to make suggestions for the next chapters, you are all more than welcome! So let me know what you think.

Love,

 _Ginny_theQueen_


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